Nonfiction Strategies

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Nonfiction Strategies
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Characteristics of non-fiction text

• Structure of non-fiction text
• Description
• Sequence
• Comparison
• Cause and Effect
• Problem and Solution
• Theme
• Style

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Cause/Effect

• Since
• Because
• This led to
• On account of
• Due to
• For this reason
• Consequently
• Therefore

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Comparison/Contrast

• In like manner
• Likewise
• Similarly
• The difference between
• As opposed to
• After all
• However
• Nevertheless
• But

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Problem/Solution

• One reason for that
• A solution
• A problem

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Question/answer

• How
• When
• What
• Where
• Why
• Who
• How many
• The best estimate
• It could be that
• One may conclude

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Sequence

• Until
• Before
• After
• Next
• Finally
• Lastly
• First/last
• Then
• On (date)
• At (time)

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Nonfiction text

• Repeated experiences with the genre to understand
  it
• Use it in everyday experiences
• Relate information in the text to childrens
  schemata

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Struggle with text

• Struggle with text serves to challenge readers
  and can teach readers to use reading strategies
  more efficiently.

• Struggle with text is something that can be
  valued and used to help readers become
  proficient.

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Struggle with text

• Struggling readers make sense of complex texts
• In the retelling of a complex text, the reader
  synthesizes the multiple genres in the written
  text and produces a narrative that reflects the
  readers unique construction of meaning

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Struggle with text

• Patterns of the quality and number of miscues
  shift across the entire text.
• Patterns of miscues shift across each genre or
  type within the entire text.
• As readers struggle, they demonstrate developing
  control over how to navigate an unfamiliar
  text.
• The text plays a mediated role in the reading
  transaction.

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Genres Within The Magic School Bus by Joanna Cole

• Narrative text
• Student research on display
• Speech balloons
• Environmental print
• Authors notes to the reader

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Genres Within The Magic School Bus by Joanna Cole

• Narrative text-74
• Student research on display-67
• Speech balloons-91
• Environmental print/Authors notes to the
  reader-59

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Readers in Trouble-Ken Goodman

• We value authors who respect readers by writing
  interesting and challenging texts with new and
  complex genres...Instead of sheltering kids from
  complex texts, we should be sharing insights
  about the reading process with them and
  encouraging them to say, Bring it on-I can read
  this!

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Supporting Readers

• Elicit prior knowledge
• Note the various text structures
• Read aloud nonfiction text
• Think alouds about the structure (and content)
• Provide nonfiction text in the classroom library
• Questioning, thinking, visualizing, synthesizing

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Thick Questions

• Address large universal concepts
• Often begin with Why? How come? I wonder?
• Address large content areas such as What is
  photosynthesis?
• Answers are often long and involved and require
  further discussion and resarch

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Thin Questions

• Primarily asked to clarify confusion, understand
  words, or access objective content
• Questions that can be answered with a number or a
  simple yes or no
• Answers are typically shorter than those for
  thick questions